Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Purdue Pharma Files for Bankruptcy; Oil Supply Could be Crippled in Weeks; G.M. Union Workers Had Their Biggest Strike; Benjamin Netanyahu Facing a Tight Race; More Pressure for Boris Johnson as Brexit Deadline Gets Closer; Saudi Faces Challenge on Fixing Oil Plants; Oil Prices Going Up; NYT Digs Allegations Against Brett Kavanaugh; Iowa Voters Bet for their Candidates; Twenty-two People Hurt at a Condo Accident. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 16, 2019 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: A court settlement tied to America's opioid crisis as a pharmaceutical giant file for bankruptcy.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Oil prices surge after crippling attacks on Saudi targets disrupt global supply. Donald Trump has a warning for the culprits.

HOWELL: And in Israel a final scramble in the campaign ahead of Tuesday's crucial election.

We are live on CNN USA here in the U.S. and CNN international around the world. I'm George Howell.

CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church from the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. CNN Newsroom starts right now.

And we begin with a massive development in the fight against America's opioid crisis.

Late Sunday, oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy protection in New York. The company facing more than 2,000 lawsuits that allege that it helped fuel America's deadly opioid epidemic. That's claim to nearly 400,000 lives in the past decade alone.

CHURCH: In a statement, Purdue Pharma says the settlement is estimated to provide more than $10 billion of value to address the crisis. But the company's legal battles could be far from over. Reuters points out that two dozen states remains opposed or uncommitted to the proposed settlement.

HOWELL: The lawsuits claim the company and the controlling Sackler family misled doctors and patients about potential addiction and overdose risks. Purdue and the Sackler family have denied the allegations.

Of course, stay with CNN. We'll continue to follow this story and bring you developments as we learn them.

CHURCH: Well, this weekend's attacks on Saudi oil sites could be fueling even more conflict in the Middle East. President Donald Trump tweeted the U.S. is locked and loaded but still wants verification of who's to blame. His secretary of state blames Iran for the attacks which the country denies.

HOWELL: Iran's Houthi allies say that they are the ones responsible for those attacks. The Yemeni militants claim they hit the sites with drones but the U.S. officials say the angle of strikes would have been difficult from Yemen and that the attacks likely came from Iran or Iraq.

Iran may say that it's not involved but it is locked in a proxy war with Saudi Arabia. The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is slamming the United States and the Saudis for their part in the war in Yemen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN ROUHANI, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): The Americans are supporting the UAE and Saudi Arabia. They are transferring weapons. They are providing intelligence and parts of the war operations is being run by the Americans and we see that every day innocent people are killed in Yemen. There is an ongoing insecurity in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Regardless of who's to blame, the strikes have crippled the Saudi oil industry. This image from NASA shows the damage from space. That's a key part of the global oil supply on fire and the markets are feeling the burn.

HOWELL: Oil prices are soaring and fears of more conflicts are not helping. You see the numbers here. Brent crude right there around 9 percent, 7 percent as well. So, the numbers we're keeping an eye on those.

CHURCH: And just moments ago we got this update. Iran saying it has no plans for President Hassan Rouhani to meet President Trump on the sidelines of the upcoming U.N. General Assembly. That -- that's coming from a spokesman.

HOWELL: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is tracking that story from the Iranian capital Tehran. He says before the attacks there were talks that tensions could actually ease between the United States and Iran.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An extraordinary development, frankly, where just a matter of days ago with the departure of U.S. national security John Bolton from the White House, many were thinking that now the ultimate Iran hawk was gone, maybe diplomacy would get a chance.

Well, after the substantial attacks on those Saudi oil facilities, no doubt about it, it is really a game changer in terms of tension in the region. Iran woke up to find U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had in fact

accused them directly of being behind that attack. In these two tweets he provided no evidence but he certainly set the idea that maybe diplomacy was going to get given a chance back a pace or two.

[03:05:04]

Now we're in a complicated situation of the world really waiting for the details of who carried out this attack. Now the notion is put forward by the Yemeni Houthi rebels who claim responsibility for the attack as they launched 10 drones. That's were adequately technologically advanced to fly through tens of billions of worth dollars of Saudi Arabian air defenses and hit these two priced oil refinements. All of 10 of them.

Now there suggestions maybe that the Houthis have got the substantial advances in drone technology in past years or so. In fact, Iranian officials have said that if they are in their capabilities but then there is also some who say the geography and a list who say the geography where these attacks were puts it a lot closer to southern Iraq and even possibly Iran across the Persian Gulf there.

Iran has categorically denied any involvement in this attack at all. Their foreign minister, Javad Zarif, saying that the U.S. is practicing max pressure. And I paraphrase it. Instead, practicing max deceit.

What's also notable is the victim of these attacks, Saudi Arabia, has yet to directly accuse Iran as well. Is that because they fear if they did so they may be forced into retaliation and that could inflame the situation yet more? Or is that because they're not clear themselves? We'll find that answer out possibly in the days and weeks ahead, too.

Some analysts are saying maybe now the ultimate Iraq hawk at the Trump administration John Bolton is out the door. Maybe Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State is trying to sound tough on Iran as well. Maybe the U.S. is trying to corner Tehran into some kind of negotiation at the U.N. General Assembly between Donald Trump and his counterpart in Iran, Hassan Rouhani. That's unclear, too.

But we had a sea change from where a matter of 48 hours ago diplomacy seemed to be the most likely option between U.S. and Iran after months of tension, now we're in an entirely different world with the oil fields still burning.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Tehran.

HOWELL: Nick, thank you.

And Saudi oil production remains crippled. Let's get a look now at the markets, how they're doing with our emerging markets editor John Defterios. John live this hour in Abu Dhabi. Good to have you with us, John. What are you seeing so far?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, the markets don't like risk, George. And hitting the largest exporter in the world delivers it at a level we haven't seen in decades when it comes to the energy market.

Let's get to those headline numbers and I can provide some context around it. We're looking at gains here of just under 10 percent for both the international benchmarks. At the open and in Asia we saw a spike above $71 a barrel. So, we've come back down. But we're looking at hovering at just around $5 or $6 on the gain. It's what we expected to be frank here.

We are almost at the highs that we saw in April when Donald Trump got very nervous about prices going above $70 a barrel and slowing down growth in the United States and around the globe.

Now there's some context here in terms of where do we go next. Saudi Arabia has, according to regional sources I've been speaking to, about 200 million barrels in storage in Amsterdam, Japan and China. With that lost production of 5.7 million barrels, they could last 35 to 40 days without shocking the market.

In fact, Saudi Arabia last night said we're going to do everything to protect the consumer, but the multi-billion-dollar question is, is it a matter of days or a matter of weeks? Another senior Saudi source said it is the latter.

So, if they can get this done in four to five weeks, it doesn't rattle the market a great deal.

Now I just got a tweet from the secretary general of OPEC who said he's in dialogue with the International Energy Agency which represents the consumers and producers. And they say they are satisfied that the situation has been brought under control in Saudi Arabia.

We're not getting pictures of whether they extinguished the fires or not. I know they have engineers on the ground so it's a very delicate situation, but so far not a real shock. We can live with 5 to $6 on the up side.

HOWELL: John, before this attack there was talk that there was too much oil around. Is it easy to replace the oil that Saudi Arabia lost here?

DEFTERIOS: Yes. The simple answer is, no. But boy, have we changed the whole narrative in a week. We've turned it upside down, George, because of the lost production in Saudi Arabia better than five billion barrels.

Let's bring up a graphic as I ran some numbers going back a decade. This is often overlooked in the international community, but the five major OPEC producers outside of Saudi Arabia, of course, have lost better than six million barrels a day.

So, you take 6.2, at 5.7 and you lost about 12 million barrels out of the OPEC supplies. Now the good news is that the U.S. expansion in shale in particular, has filled that first void of six million barrels a day.

The big question mark going forward who fills the Saudi Arabian supplies if they can't get back up in 40 days? The answer is we can't. There's about spare capacity within OPEC about 1.5 million barrels a day.

The U.S. can't flip a switch and open up the spigots and then let the wheel come out. They're running near capacity.

[03:10:01]

So, the last thing I would suggest here is watch the strategic petroleum reserve in the United States, 645 million barrels. President Trump said he'll release them, how much, and when and for how long is what the markets are watching.

So, again, there's a lot of negotiations going on behind the scenes. We see the spike up but it's not out of control at this stage.

HOWELL: All right. A lot of protective measures as well. John Defterios live for us in Abu Dhabi, John, thank you.

CHURCH: Another big story we're following. Members of an American labor union have decided to strike against a major automaker.

Just a few hours ago, workers of 31 General Motors plants and other facilities walked off the job. The United Auto Workers union had given G.M. until midnight on Monday to meet its demands but apparently, they failed to reach an agreement.

HOWELL: The union's contract with the company expired on Sunday. G.M. says it made a strong offer but the union argues the workers' needs are not being met. This is the largest strike against a U.S. business since a 2007 G.M. strike.

CHURCH: All right. We'll take a short break here. Still to come, Israel's prime minister fighting for his political life. When we return, a close look at Benjamin Netanyahu's close election race with his adversary, Benny Gantz. Back in a moment.

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: In Israel, polls show that Tuesday's election is tight between the prime minister of the nation Benjamin Netanyahu's party and the former Israeli military chief Benny Gantz's party.

CHURCH: Mr. Netanyahu vows to annex parts of the West Bank if he wins his reelection. And this pledge has sparked international condemnation and threatens prospects for peace. But the prime minister remains focused on appealing to his base.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We will apply the sovereignty immediately when the next government is formed, in the next Knesset. I'm proud to convene the special cabinet meeting in the Jordan Valley. It's not only the eastern gate of the state of Israel, it's the

defense wall from the east since the Jordan Valley along with the territories that control it, which will be a part of the state of Israel, assures that the Israeli army will be here forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And our senior international correspondent Sam Kiley is covering the elections from Jaffa, Israel. He joins us again with a look at where the race stands. And Sam, polls suggest it is a race that's too close to call. What are voters telling you about the issues motivating them and how influenced are they by Netanyahu's pledge to annex parts of the West Bank?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very interesting in terms of that idea of playing to the base. From the Netanyahu perspective he's got a solid support base from the Likud Party but then almost inevitably whoever comes out ahead, whichever party comes out ahead in these elections if the polls are to be believed, they're often inaccurate, I have to say, Rosemary, but if they are to be believed, there's going to be coalition negotiations.

From the right-wing perspective that means that what we've seen from Benjamin Netanyahu is a steady drum beat of him dripping out these claims to grab chunks of the West Bank starting with the Jordan Valley.

Then after that cabinet meeting he tweeted saying that he would annex the Jordan Valley and the settlements inside the West Bank and then this morning he also repeated that by saying he's also going to seize Kiryat Arba other Jewish settlements around Hebron, a very exclusive part of the southern West Bank.

That's all really I think to be seen as an attempt to try to scoop into his camp to get people on the very far right to vote for the Likud rather than, for example, the Jewish power party which recent opinion polls show could get about four seats and then would have from his perspective undue influence in a future coalition.

Similar problems apply to the center left, also looking like they're polling about 30, 32, 30 to 33 votes -- sorry -- seats in the Knesset again. If they wanted to be able to try to form a government, they would have to incorporate a wide group of potential supporters including Arab Israeli voters who may, according to the opinion polls, end up with about 12 seats in the Knesset.

That would make them a very significant coalition partner ruling out of course their participation with the right-wing coalition, possibly participation with the left wing.

But what we can be sure about all of this is no matter how much people motivate their bases, all of the polls, Rosemary, indicate that there's going to be the first stage of this process which will be the elections and then a rather drawn out process as one or other side try to put together a ruling coalition. And it was Netanyahu's failure to do that back in April that has led

to this round of elections. Looming over everybody in this country I think is a fear of a third round, Rosemary, a third round of elections.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. And of course, it has to be asked how different is Benny Gantz's vision of Israel to that of Benjamin Netanyahu.

KILEY: Yes, I mean, there isn't a great deal between them really. So, for example, when I asked Yair Lapid, he's the co-leader of that Blue and White party what his reaction was to the claims that he would annex the Jordan Valley from Benjamin Netanyahu, he said, well, they would do the same except that it would be a consequence of negotiations with the Palestinians.

But I have to say, the whole kind of Palestinian issue of the future of the West Bank plays to Netanyahu's attempts to try to scoop in these far-right elements. But really does not resonate much with other centrist voters in Israel. Their preoccupations and more in terms of long-term external security, but really much more about economic stability.

[03:19:53]

And also, a degree of discomfort, I have to say, those opposed to Netanyahu over the idea that he is currently under investigation in three criminal cases and may well seek immunity from prosecution were he to come back as the prime minister of this country, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our Sam Kiley keeping an eye on all of that from the streets of Jaffar in Israel. The election is Tuesday. Many thanks.

HOWELL: In the United Kingdom the liberal Democrats are making a bold promise if they come to power in the next election. They have approved a motion to cancel Brexit if they get a chance. That was passed by a majority of members at the party's annual conference that was held Sunday.

CHURCH: Meantime, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will soon meet with European Commission President Jean Claude-Juncker to talk about a revise Brexit deal. The two leaders are meeting in Luxemburg. Mr. Johnson promises to get the United Kingdom out of the E.U. by October 31st deal or no deal.

HOWELL: Now to Scotland where citizens voted to remain part of the U.K. and their independence referendum five years ago.

CHURCH: Yes, but that was before Brexit. So how do they feel about independence now?

CNN's Nic Robertson went on a tour of Scotland to find out.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This is Edinburgh in Scotland, and I am beginning a road trip around this country asking the question is Brexit driving Scotland and England apart?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: Why?

Well, for a start Scotland voted to stay in the E.U. and the majority of England have voted to leave.

ROBERTSON: His angered Scottish judges rule P.M. Boris Johnson lied to the queen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think Scotland is going to put up with the fiasco that's going on much longer especially after this proroguing incident.

ROBERTSON: Do you think another independence referendum is now more likely?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I think so. I think a lot of people who said no in the first round say actually they're scared now.

ROBERTSON: But not everyone agrees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People voted clearly in 2014 to remain part of the glorious union of Westminster. Quite a decisive vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I voted to remain part of the U.K. and I'm still would. And I also voted for Brexit and I still would.

ROBERTSON: In this capital city, the Scottish National Party, the SNP, have three of five M.P.s, but does it represent the country? We head north to find out through the spectacular highlands to Elgin. I came here just before the last election two years ago. I met the SNP M.P. He lost his seat to the conservatives.

This lady helped vote a conservative candidate in but not again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, including party is including now they've got Boris Johnson in charge and they're also making mess of Brexit and that's turning people like me off.

ROBERTSON: In Elgin Johnson's loss could be the SMP's gain. They're working hard to make it happen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their argument is yes. It's actually Brexit is pushing Scotland more and more towards independence. Yes, you can see it.

ROBERTSON: But the SMP lost last election here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. If Boris Johnson gets his way and there's another election, then SMP will dominate.

ROBERTSON: Across Scotland today SMP have 35 of 59 seats but can they hold what they've got?

I head west to the Craggy Coast. The third stop on this road trip, Oban, gateway to Scotland's western isles. It's big on fishing here, big on tourism and they have an SNP member of parliament. Brexit is a problem here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of people in the (Inaudible) that are worried. And they actually feel as if there's maybe been about quiet of us because there's a lot of unknown.

ROBERTSON: These fishermen export to the E.U. fear their catch will get tangled in border delays and rot. Most here like that the SMP looks out for their local interests but not everyone wants independence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Local election SMP do a vote for local -- local leaders, local project, stuff and things like that. But the bigger picture is something quite different.

ROBERTSON: After close to 500 miles of driving we're back here in Edinburgh again, and after all that travel, it's clear the union is under strain. The SNP does seem to be gaining strength, but that alone does not translate simply into an independent Scotland.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Edinburgh.

CHURCH: Well, votes are being counted in Tunisia's presidential race. The election was held early due to the death of President Beji Caid Essebsi back in July.

HOWELL: Voters had to choose from a crowded field of 26 different candidates. If no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote there will be a runoff.

[03:25:00]

This is Tunisia's second free presidential election since 2011 uprising which led to the Arab Spring. The grassroots movement that toppled autocratic leaders in North Africa and the Middle East.

CHURCH: A Welsh rugby legend has made a stunning announcement about his health.

HOWELL: The former British Lions captain Gareth Thomas has revealed that he is HIV positive and now he's vowing to break the stigma surrounding the condition. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARETH THOMAS, FORMER WELSH RUGBY PLAYER: I am living with HIV. Now you have that information, that makes me extremely vulnerable, but it does not make me weak. I choose to fight to educate and break the stigma around this subject.

I'm asking you to help me to show that everyone lives in fear of people's reactions and opinions to something about them, but that doesn't mean that we should have to hide. But to do this I really, really need your support.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Thomas told the Sunday Mirror he's been living with this

secret for years. He says he decided to make his condition public after being threatened with blackmail. He's believed to be the first British sportsman to announce he's HIV positive.

HOWELL: Around the world the music world is mourning the loss of a front man who had one of the most distinct voices of his time.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHURCH: Ric Ocasek of the Cars died Sunday at the age of 75. The group was enormously popular in the late 1970s and '80s. The band was part of the new wave with hits like what you just heard there "My Best Friend's Girl" and the slower pace "Drive."

Well, for our international viewers, thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Destination Georgia is just ahead.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. For our viewers in the United States, CNN Newsroom live continues right after this.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to those of you up early with us from the West Coast to the east. You're watching CNN Newsroom live from Atlanta. I'm George Howell.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rosemary Church.

We do want to recap one of our top stories.

Iran's foreign ministry say President Hassan Rouhani will not meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at this month's U.N. General Assembly. There was talk the two leaders would speak but a potential detente has been derailed by attacks on Saudi oil sites.

The U.S. secretary of state quickly blamed Iran for the weekend strikes. Iran denies any involvement while its Houthi allies in Yemen say they are responsible claiming they hit the sites with drones.

HOWELL: But some U.S. officials are skeptical about that. One shared these satellite images. They say the angle of the strikes would have been difficult from Yemen and that the attacks likely originated in Iran or Iraq.

CHURCH: Well, U.S. lawmakers have been weighing in on the Saudi oil attacks.

HOWELL: That's right. They have mixed views on whether there should be any type of military response. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I think it's safe to say that the Houthis don't have the capability to do a strike like this without Iranian assistance. So, Iranian know how Iranian technology I think was certainly involved. Whether the Iranians directly engaged in this or through the Houthi proxies is yet to be seen.

But I think it underscores just what we really, frankly, came to expect from this unending war in Yemen, that it would escalate tensions in the region but also our withdrawal from the JCPOA has led Iran to engage --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The nuclear deal with Iran?

SCHIFF: Exactly. It has led Iran to engage in these escalatory tactics to drive us apart from our allies but also to increase Iranian leverage to try to bring about an end to sanctions.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I think an escalation of the war would be a big mistake.

This all comes from the Yemeni civil war, where Saudi Arabia is heavily involved in another country, indiscriminately bombing civilians, killing children. And the Houthis are supported by the Iranians. So, it's back and forth.

But, really, the answer is trying to have a negotiated cease fire and peace in Yemen. And bombing Iran won't do that. This is a regional conflict. That there's no reason the super power of the United States needs to be getting into bombing mainland Iran. It would be a needles escalation of this.

Those who love the Iraq War, the Cheneys, the Boltons, the Kristols, they all are clamoring and champing at the bit for another war in Iran.

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): You look at Secretary Pompeo's statements from yesterday, I think particularly now in the aftermath of this attack, we have to be absolutely clear that the Iranians are isolated and we're going to build an international coalition of support for putting back the sanctions that ought to be in place against them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining us now is Cedric Leighton. He is a CNN military analyst and former Air Force colonel. Thank you, sir, for being with us.

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's my pleasure, Rosemary. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So, we do want to start by getting your analysis on these commercial satellite images showing the aftermath of the drone attacks on the Saudi oil installations. Now the Trump administration says the attack came from Iraq or Iran.

Is that what you see when you look at these images? Is it even possible to make a determination on that?

LEIGHTON: It's not 100 percent possible. It is certainly probable that the attack came from either southern Iraq or Iran, but there are a lot of circumstances that could actually change where the attack came from so if these were drones, as we are reporting right now, these drones could have conducted their basic maneuvers and they could have come from a number of different places.

One of the things that limits where the drones come from is the range of the drones and the fact that they generally don't have a range that would allow them to fly all the way from Yemen makes it more likely that they came from either southern Iraq or Iran, but it's not 100 percent certain that that's the case.

CHURCH: Interesting. And of course, we know that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was very quick to initially blame Iran outright but has not yet provided evidence to support that and at the same time Houthi rebels in Yemen are claiming responsibility for the drone attack.

[03:34:59]

Then the Trump administration said the drone attacks came from Iran or Iraq. What do you make of all of this and how Pompeo was so quick to point the finger at Iran?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think we have to be very careful in our assessments as to, you know, whether or not it did come from Iran. I think what's pretty clear is that it is most likely that it came from either Iran or an Iranian proxy force but that could mean that the geographic point of origin of the missiles or of the drones could be anywhere in the Middle East.

It could even theoretically be within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but that does not mean obviously that the Saudis conducted an attack on themselves.

There are a lot of covert activities that the Iranians engage in that involve agents and sleeper cells as they're called that are in both Iraq and the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, which has a very large Shia population and they of course have a lot of Iranian sympathizers in those areas. And that could very well be the place where the drones and/or attendant missiles came from.

CHURCH: Right. Of course, you have to ask the question who benefits, who profits from an attack like this. What do you believe is the motivation behind this precision drone attack, whoever is determined to be behind this?

LEIGHTON: Well, when you look at the motivation aspect of this, you know, it's pretty clear that the Iranians and their proxy forces by extension could benefit more from it than any other group that we're considering right now. There are no other groups besides those that are associated with Iran

that would want to wreck Saudi Arabia's economy to the extent that this drone attack apparently has been able to do.

You know, when you lose about 5 percent or so of daily oil production, that's a pretty significant factor, that's global oil production, and that's a pretty huge deal.

So, Iran would benefit from that and it also plays into the narrative of the Shia/ Sunni conflict that Iran and Saudi Arabia are basically -- have between them that has been going on for a number of years right now.

CHURCH: How sophisticated is this attack?

LEIGHTON: This is a very sophisticated attack, Rosemary. One of the reasons I say that is when you look at the imagery, you can see in some of the oil tanks that are shown in some of the images, you can see very thin point strikes that have gone into those oil tanks.

There is no damage beyond where the missile actually penetrated the tank and it shows that not only did it have fairly sophisticated, explosive missiles but with the attendant warheads, but they also have very precise intelligence. The fact that they have that precise intelligence indicates that there is some kind of a state actor behind these attacks.

CHURCH: Just finally, President Trump has hinted that he will respond with military action. How likely is it that that is the answer to this attack at this juncture or is it perhaps too premature?

LEIGHTON: I would say it's a bit premature. The reason that I say that is we really need to make sure that we get the attribution piece correct and, you know, we've had the experience with Iraq, we've had the experience with several other things that have gone on in our past, both in the Middle East and other places around the world, where attribution becomes key.

The Iranians have a history of going after Saudi Arabia. They do it through kinetic means like this attack as well as non-kinetic means like a cyber-attack that happened in 2012 which involved the placement of a virus on Saudi Aramco computers that killed 39,000 of their PCs that didn't affect oil production at that time, it affected the administrative operations of Aramco.

But that's the kind of thing that leads us to believe that it may be Iran but we have to be very certain that that is, in fact, the case and it goes beyond just knowing where the missiles came from. It goes to who placed those missiles and what their purpose was and that's what the intelligence community has to find right now.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Cedric Leighton, it is always a pleasure to chat with you and get your analysis on these military matters. I appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: Thank you so much, Rosemary. It's great to be with you. HOWELL: And the markets after this attack seeing oil prices spike.

Let's go to Hong Kong. Andrew Stevens is keeping watch on how markets are reacting across Asia. Andrew, what do you see this hour?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a fairly muted response on the equity response, George, to this big spike you're talking about. One stage just as the oil markets opened after that attack, the price of crude oil, the benchmark Brent Crude was up some 19 percent. Still come back a bit. Down as you see. It's now up 8 percent. That's still a very big jump though.

[03:40:05]

And investors no doubt are raising significant concerns about what this mean, what this could mean longer term, the high cost of energy, especially when you factor in a weakening global economic outlook.

Saudi Arabia has about 35 to 40 days' worth of reserves. That's according to Aramco, the main producer there. So, they can smooth things out, but if the repairs, if they can't get to these two major production centers up and running within that time, that's going to put a squeeze on supply, which will keep oil prices high.

So, take a look at the equities. I mean, the equities so far have been fairly new. Here in Asia the Hong Kong was the biggest loser down. A little bit more than 1 percent.

But a lot of that it had to do with some pretty weak economic news coming out of China itself, particularly a comment from Lee Ko Chung (Ph) who's effectively the number two, sort of the economic czar in China if you like, George.

And he said that it would be very difficult, quote, "for China to hit 6 percent or more growth this year." Now bear in mind, that is the Chinese own government's target. The low end is 6 percent.

So, there's concerns economically about China which are rattling markets, not just here in Asia but also in Europe they're down a bit. The futures market for the U.S., for the Dow, down around half of 1 percent.

So, certainly, not panic in the markets but it really is now watch and wait. How do the Saudi deal with the supply shortfall? How quickly can they get things back online and what it means to raise geopolitical tensions which we've been talking about, and also, the vulnerabilities now about this giant oil production centers that Saudi Arabia has, George.

HOWELL: All right. Andrew Stevens, we look at the numbers. Andrew, thank you.

CHURCH: Well, new allegations surfaced against a controversial U.S. Supreme Court justice. Find out who's calling for Brett Kavanaugh's impeachment and who's coming to his defense. Back with that in just a moment.

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, President Trump is leaping to Brett Kavanaugh's defense after new allegations surface against the Supreme Court justice. The president urged Kavanaugh to sue for libel and suggested the Department of Justice rescue him.

HOWELL: In contentious confirmation hearings, you remember those last year, Kavanaugh denied allegations from sexual assault from three women.

In a New York Times book excerpt the authors say they confirmed with two sources a new allegation by a former classmate. The report said the classmate notified senators and the FBI about the incident but the FBI didn't investigate.

CHURCH: Well, now several Democratic presidential candidates are calling for Kavanaugh's impeachment. Kamala Harris said she sat through the hearings and Kavanaugh lied to the Senate and American people.

HOWELL: And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brushed aside any concerns and said that he looked forward to many years of Kavanaugh's service.

We're one month away now from the next Democratic presidential debate and you can bet undecided voters at a crucial state, Iowa, they will be watching.

CHURCH: So far, they have been paying close attention to the first three debates and they shared their thoughts with CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN REPORTER: Eight Iowa Democrats all undecided about who to support in the first in the nation Iowa caucuses. We've watched all three sets of debates with them. The consensus winner the first two times, Elizabeth Warren. This time.

Who do you think did the best?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warren followed by Booker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Warren and Booker.

TUCHMAN: Scott?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oddly, Warren and Booker.

TUCHMAN: Leslie?

LESLIE CARPENTER, IOWA VOTER: Booker and Warren.

TUCHMAN: In that order?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Buttigieg and Booker tied for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buttigieg and Booker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Warren and Klobuchar.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Warren and Booker.

TUCHMAN: Now how many said Warren as your first choice? So that's one, two, three, four, five, six of you. So once again, Elizabeth Warren did very well among this group. How many said Cory Booker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tied.

TUCHMAN: Two. OK. So, it seems like Cory Booker came in second place among this group.

Everyone in this group tells us they like the fight of Elizabeth Warren.

ED CRANSTON, IOWA VOTER: She's done this and she's done a lot in the past successfully and she wants to be in the fight and she's ready to go.

JANICE WEINER, IOWA VOTER: She's very clear. She's articulate. She has plans and she gives details.

TUCHMAN: Names conspicuously absent when we asked who else they wanted to praise? Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

RAQUISHIA HARRINGTON, IOWA VOTER: To me Bernie seems like he's yelling at you when he's articulating what he's trying to get out.

TUCHMAN: Everyone in this group disappointed in Julian Castro taking a poke at Joe Biden's memory. Leslie Carpenter says she met Castro and advised him against that kind of attack.

CARPENTER: I told him that we didn't like it when there were personal attacks but we liked it when they were talking about issues and elevating the conversation.

TUCHMAN: So, you think he wasn't listening to you during this debate?

CARPENTER: Apparently, and it made me sad.

TUCHMAN: Final thing I want to ask you. You're all undecided voters. Any of you ready to make a decision about who you're going to support after this debate? Anybody? You are, Temple?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: OK. So, who are you ready to support?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to caucus for Elizabeth Warren.

TUCHMAN: So, you are no longer an undecided voter?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.

TUCHMAN: Among this group in Johnson County, Iowa, the debates have been very good to Elizabeth Warren.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Iowa City, Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke and Pete Buttigieg are clashing over O'Rourke's proposed mandatory buyback program of assault style rifles.

HOWELL: Fist, here's Buttigieg's point of view. He appeared on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper and had this to say. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Your fellow candidate, your fellow 2020 candidate Beto O'Rourke raising some eyebrows by saying, quote, "Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47," at the debate.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware who has endorsed Biden he responded by saying this, quote, "That clip will be played for years at Second Amendment rallies with organizations to try to scare people by saying Democrats are coming for your guns."

Do you agree? Did Beto O'Rourke say something that's playing into the hands of Republicans?

MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes. Look, right now we have an amazing moment on our hands. We have agreement among the American people for not just universal background checks but we have a majority in favor of red flag laws, high capacity magazines, banning the new sale of assault weapons.

This is a golden moment to finally do something because we've been arguing about this for as long as I've been alive. When this president and even Mitch McConnell are at least pretending to be open to reforms, we know that we have a moment on our hands, let's make the most of it and get these things done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, O'Rourke swiftly responded to Buttigieg's attack.

[03:50:00]

HOWELL: He tweeted, "When candidates say, at least Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are pretending to be interested, that's not enough. Neither is poll testing your message. Gun violence is a life or death issue and we have to represent the bold ideas of people all over the country."

We'll be right back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: In the State of New Jersey at least 22 people were hurt when several decks collapsed at a condo building.

CHURCH: Yes. The decks fell on top of one another trapping multiple people in the wreckage.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has the details.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those decks collapsed in Southern New Jersey mainly in resort city of Wildwood where first responders rushed to the scene Saturday evening.

Among the injured, firefighters. In fact, the state's firefighter convention was being held there at that time in that city. So, as a result, there were several of the injured that were firefighters, including their families as well. They had to be taken to nearby hospitals.

We're told a majority of them have already been released from the hospital, however, it really is incredible when you see the pictures here. Authorities are saying that this building was a seven-unit multiple family dwelling, a condo building, that as authorities described it experienced a pancake-type collapse trapping multiple people.

[03:55:05]

You've seen the pictures. Now listen to how one witness describes what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first-floor deck pulled away first and people started sliding off and yelling, you know, and falling, and it came off in pieces, the second floor.

You know, both decks, most of it came off but there was a far section, like a corner of the deck was still on the building and there was a 2- year-old little girl on the one deck all by herself on that little corner and another lady on the third floor and we were yelling to the little girl to stay away from the edge and thank God, but then that one came down but it went slowly, thank God, and they -- as it went down she slid off and there were men there to grab it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Just to give it some perspective, I want -- you see this image here. CNN found an image on Google Street View. We have not been able to confirm it with authorities but it does match images that we have seen from our affiliates. It gives you a sense of what it looked like before Saturday's collapse.

Now structural engineers will look at this and basically try to determine if it was perhaps that there too many people on this deck or if it was a structural issue. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: Amazing outcome there.

HOWELL: Yes.

CHURCH: And the hottest part of the Titans versus Colts football game Sunday was not on the field. It was the fire that broke out on the sideline near the Tennessee Titans end zone. The blaze was the result of malfunctioning pyrotechnic equipment.

HOWELL: Look at that. This happened before the game started as the Titans got onto the field there while the fire shot out high into the air. Look at that. The fire is quickly extinguished. The team reports there were no injuries. But my goodness. What a sight there.

CHURCH: Good to see it all ended well.

HOWELL: Yes.

CHURCH: And thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church.

HOWELL: Thank you. I'm George Howell. Early Start in New York's Hudson Yards is up next. Stay with us.

CHURCH: Have a great day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END